Facts About Black Sea

Covering an area of about 436,400 km2 and a volume of 547,000 km3, Black Sea is a famous inland sea which is bordered by Europe, Anatolia and Caucasus. The sea water maintains a positive water balance with a net flow of 300 km3 per year into the Aegean Sea through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Black Sea can be connected to the surrounding water bodies, at critical water levels, through the most active connective routes of the Turkish Straits. This network connects the Black Sea with the ocean. In case of absence of this hydrological link, Black Sea is simply a lake which operates independent of the global ocean system. You would wonder why the name Black Sea! There are many existing theories as to what led to the origin of its name. Over centuries, this sea was given several names by different people. Before the Greek civilization, this sea was called ‘inhospitable’, because of the difficulty people faced in navigating through its waters and also because the shores were inhabited by barbaric clans. The name was changed to ‘hospitable’ when it was made a part of the Greek civilization.

Amazing And Interesting Facts About Black Sea

Black Sea, also known as Euxine Sea, is located between the southernmost Europe and Asia Minor. It is surrounded by six different countries and linked to the Mediterranean Sea through Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. It shares its shorelines with the boundaries of Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia and Georgia.

The most interesting fact about Black Sea is its anoxic water, which are areas of fresh water or sea water depleted of dissolved oxygen.

It seems to be an intriguing and scary fact that the dead are believed to persist under in the sea waters of the Black Sea. This is because, the remains of ships, humans and other decomposable materials like rope, wood etc., which sank hundreds of years ago in this sea, still exists in the waters. Scientifically speaking, it is the anoxic nature of the water which causes slow decomposition.

Black Sea is the largest meromictic basin of the world, i.e. water found between the layers (upper and the lower) does not intermix. Because of this, there exists a temperature difference between the layers of its water.

The inland of Black Sea is home to about ten small islands and contains an amazing collection of flora and fauna which makes this sea unique.

As there is no high or low tides in Black Sea, the level of the water remains constant always. This feature tags Black Sea as a calm, serene and quiet sea.

Black Sea tops the list of tourist attractions of the world all the year round. It is considered to be the best place to lay back and relax for a while. For the adventurous people, it has amazing options for cruising which help explore the secrets of this sea.

Deep layers of Black Sea are fed by Mediterranean Sea, characterized by its warm and salty waters with a salinity level of about 22 parts per thousand. The upper layers are much cooler with less saline properties up to a level of 18 parts per thousand. This takes place because of a rotating ocean current known as a ‘cyclonic gyre’ along its perimeter or the outer shelf and this phenomenon helps the eco-system of the marine life to remain active.

It is agreed today that Black Sea has freshwater mostly in the upper layers; still its post glacial development in the process of becoming a marine sea is being studied and debated over.

There are not many islands of Black Sea in the Bulgarian coastline. The ones existing are small, covered with algae and uninhabited.

Black Sea, which was considered the largest landlocked sea of the world, supported various civilizations with its generous fisheries. Later, there was immense pressure on the sea due to immense population growth and industrialization. This resulted in overfishing and eutrophication and also led to the flow of various chemicals and radioactive poisons into the sea.

Once regarded the source of food and recreation for many, Black Sea is now on the verge of turning into a toxic and ecological disaster. This dangerous transition occurred because the waters that drain into the Black Sea come with heavy toxic metals, untreated sewage, oil, nutrients and radionuclides.

The extreme fishing done in the sea led to the extinction of about 21 varieties of fish in the Black Sea including bluefish, perch, dolphins, bonito and pike.